Railway draft rigging



Aug. 9, 1932. c. E. DATH RAILWAY DRAFT RIGGING Filed Feb. 13, 1928 Q E. L? E .w mm Q E n @QQ Q m, www. f m m C@ m il Y@ m M m w XML. E m A. ww Hmm.. l wm cF ...www uw n Q @i m s uw Q N@ mY m.. ,m\ NN.

Patented Aug. 9, 1932 Unirse f r ser Frac :al

CHARLES E. BATH, Vor cIIIcAoo, ILLINOIS, AssIGNoR rro w. II..IvIINERI1\rc.,oFc1IIcAGQ; .y

ILLINOIS, A .coRronATIoN or DELAWARE RAILWAY DRAFT RIGGING vApplication filed February X13, 1928. 'Serial No. 253,139.1. Y

This invention relates -to improvements in railway draft riggings.

lt is well known to those skilled in the art, .in the operation of railway cars .and 5 more.particularlyfreight cars, .the present general apractice is -to use draft .gears having a stroke of approximately .S23/4" in both buff and draft. Due to the increased weight of individual cars; the heavier loads carried by le said cars; the longertrains; and the higher powered locomotives, the constantly increasing loads .and more Vparticularly the buiiing loads have imposed heavier service on the draft gears Aand .this tendency vis constant-l57 increasing. Because ofthe increased service now demandedof dra-ft gears, while the space between center sills where .the `gears are mounted Aremains .the same, it has become a serious problem to devise satisfactory shock absorbing devices .to withstand the increased serviceconditions without,.at the same time, increasing the sill .spacing and without increasing train slack. Y

One object of my invention is to provide '25 a draft rigging for railway cars wherein greater shock absorbingcapacity of thefdraft gear .in `buff is obtained 4by .allowin ga longer compression stroke than .heretofore euse t tomary while at thefsame time avoidingvany increase in train slack and also conforming to standardized practice as regardssillspacing and height .of the draft gear above the rails. v

Another'cbject of my .invention is .to .pro- -vide a draft rigging having .a longv compres-` sion stroke in buff while at the same time avoiding vany drooping or sagging of the coupler and constantly maintainingthe alinemcnt of the .coupler with the center line of the shock absorbing device. L

A more .specific object ofmy invention is to provide Aa coupler connector adapted Ato be operatively interposed between the coupler and a friction shock absorbing device and which coupler connector is detachable with respect to both the coupler and said device and so associated with the other parts of the rigging as to permit a long A'buff stroke while retaining a .relativelyshortor standard draft stroke in order that there may be no uunecesi sary increase in train slack.

.Another speci-o objectof the invention :is to'provide a-connector of the type above indicated which will preserve the :ali-nement -fof the coupler and shock absorbing device iin all operative ,positions and will prevent sag,- ging or drooping of the head fend fo-f the coupler. Y

Other objects of the invention will amore clearly appear from 'the ,description and claims .hereinafter following. f

ln the ddrawing forming a partV of this specification, Fig. 1 is a vertical longitudinal sectional view of a portion Aof .a railwayvcar showing my improvements in connection therewith.v In this view, certain ofthe parts,

such as the shock vabsorbing device proper and the coupler, are Ashown 1n side .-elevation.

Fig. 2 is a horizontal, longitudinal, sectional i view corresponding .substantially to the line 2-2of Fig. 1. And Fig. 3 is `a--top planv-iew of the coupler connector shown detached.

In said drawing, .10-10 denote the usual channel ,draft sills which lmay consti-tute a part of thecenter sills; 11 the vcenter lfiller casting ofthe body bolster which, in the-oo nstruction shown, .also provides rthe rear fahutment 1:2, for the shock absorbingdevice. The draft sills are united at their outer ends to an end sill F18 and the .opening for the coupler is reinforced by ,a ,suitable .end casting ll secured `to the end sill and draft sills. Y

The improved `draft' rigging, as shown, comprises.broadly, aicouplerQO ofthe present .standard type; `a ycoupler connector v; a front follower 40.; and a shock absorbing device comprised of two .unitsand The coupler and connector yareoperatively connected by the usual .coupler key 1.5 YeX- tended 4horizontally through .alined ,slots therein, said key also working in elongated slots 16 in the draft sills. Y The shock absorbing device, proper, is sustained in operative position by a plurality .of ldetachablesaddle i plates 17, 18 and 19. .y y

Theshock absorbingfdevices `50 andGO may be of any suitable typeandl have indicated thesame conventionally -in the drawing,eeach of thesame comprising combined friction shell and spring cage 61, shoes 62 and wedge 63. In carrying out my invention, the combined shell and spring cage of one of the gears, preferably the front gear 50, is provided with an annular flange at its rear end 51 within which is adapted to be telescopically received the vfront end 64 of the rear shock absorbing device 60. The extent of the telescope is made slightly greater thancthe permissible draft movement of the coupler. It will also be noted that the two gears 50 and 60 are oppositely disposed, i. e., the friction elements of the gear 50 are at the front end and the friction elements of the gear 60 are at the rear end abutting the bolster center filler 11.

The connector 30 is of'hollow box-like or tubular form and has top and bottom walls 31 and 32 which are upwardly and downwardly flared respectively, as indicated at 33 and 34, and thence extend horizontally as indicated at 35-36- rIhe connector also has side walls 37-37 which are flared forwardly to accommodate Vlateral movement of the coupler, as best indicated in Fig. 2.

|Ihe connector and front gear 50 are detachably connected, the type of connection shown comprising spaced lugs 38-38 integral with the rear ends Vof the upper and lower'walls 35 and 36, saidflugs 38 being apertured as indicated at 39 to accommodate transversely extending keys 70 that are also entered through a plurality of flanges 52 formed on the upper and bottom sidesrespectively of the friction shell of the front gear 50. With this arrangement, it will be observed that the keys 70 are placed under quadruple shear and a very strong attachment thus aorded'. VReferring to Fig. 1, it

will be seen that the slots 53 in the gear casting are longer than the width of the keys so as to allow for a movement of the connec. tor 30 inwardly4 land independently of the gear 50. rIhe connector and gear 50 are assembled before insertion between the sills and the keys 70 will be retainedin place by the sills and the saddle plate 17.

n rIhe connector 30 and associated coupler are supported by a detachable carry iron 71. In a draft action, the coupler pulls the connector 30 forwardly through the intermediary of the key 15 andthe connector in turn pulls the shell of the frontgear 50 forwardly, thus actuating the friction elements against the front follower 40 which is held against forward movement by the usual front stop lugs 72.. During this draft action, there will be no actuation or movement of the rear gear 60. The 'draft movement lis limited preferably by the front edges 54 of the shell 50 engaging with the front follower 40 and preferably also by the key 15 simultaneously engaging the front ends of the slots 16 in the draft sills. In actual Vpractice this draft movement will preferably be limited to what The gear 50 may be made of slightly easier action than the rear gear 60 or the two gears may be made of substantially vthe same ca- 1 pacity, but it will be observed that both gears will be brought into play during a bu movement and the total buff travel will be the sum of the travel of the two gears 50 and 60. The relative movement necessary between the coupler and connector 30 on the one hand and the shell of the gear 50 on the other hand, is accommodated by the elongated slots 53 above referred to. In actual practice, the bu movement will approximate 5% to 6, thusv giving a much longer stroke than that now used and allowing for the absorption of a greater amount of shock than can be absorbed in the ordinary 2% movement.

Referring to the connector 30, it will be observed that it is keyed to the friction shell of the gear 50 and consequently will be maintained in alinement therewith. Due to the fact that the connector has an elongated horizontal bottom wall 32 on which the coupler shankrests, it obviously follows that the coupler will also be maintained in 'alinement with the gear, this being true in any operative position in either buff or draft of the parts. By maintaining the alinement the application of eccentric-loads to the shock absorbing devices is eliminated or minimized and longer lives of the parts thereby assured. I have herein shown and described what I now consider the preferred manner of carrying out the invention, but the same is merely illustrative and I contemplate all changes and modifications that come Vwithin the scope of the claims appended hereto.

' I claim:

1. In a draft rigging, the combination with draft sills; of front and rear stop acting means; two friction shock absorbing units interposed between saidmeans, said units being arrangedcend to end and each including a friction shell open at one end and closed at the other, and friction elements co-operable with each shell, the open ends of the shells of said units being at opposite ends of the mechanism and the closed ends being in abutment, the friction elements of the front unit being at the forward end thereof and the friction elements of the rear unit being at the rea-r end of vthe latter; and means for connecting the shell ofthe front unit with a coupler whereby said front unit,

only, is actuated in draft and both units are actuated in buff. Y

2.V In a railway draft rigging, the combination with draft sills; of front and rear stops; a front follower cooperating with said front stops; front and rear shock absorbing mechanisms interposed between said front follower and rear stop, each mechanism including a casing closed at one end and open at the other end, the front mechanism having the closed end of the casing at the rear thereof and said rear mechanism having the closed end of the casing at the forward end thereof, the casing of the front mechanism having a rearwardly opening pocket within which the closed end of the casing of the rear mechanism is telescoped; cushioning means within each casing, the cushioning means of the front casing being compressible between the closed end of the casing and the front follower, and the cushioning means of the rear casing being compressible-between the closed end of said casing and the rear stop; a coupler; and means connecting the coupler to the forward end of the front casing for actuating the latter in draft to compress said cushioning means against the front follower, said connecting means being movable with respect to the casing of the front shock absorbing mechanism in bud and said front t' follower being directly actuated by the coupler in buif for compressing the cushioning means of the front shock absorbing mechanism and moving the casing thereof rearwardly to compress the cushioning means of the rear shock absorbing mechanism against said rear stop.

3.' In a railway draft rigging, the combination with front stop means; of a follower cooperating with said stop means; a friction shock absorbing mechanism including a shell open at the forward end and having sets of top and bottom ears at said open end, each set comprising a pair of outer ears and an intermediate ear, and each set of ears having longitudinally disposed slots therein; a coupler; a connector comprising a hollow box-like section within which the coupler shank is accommodated, said connector having top and bottom arms embracing the friction shell, and each of said arms having Va pair of spaced perforated ears disposed between two of the ears of the corresponding set of the shell and embracing the third ear of said set; keys extending through said top and bottom ears of the shell and arms for de- Vtachably joining said connector to the shell,

said keys being movable lengthwise in said slotted ears; and means on the underframe structure of the car for supporting and guiding the casing and said connector by engagement with the bottom sets of ears of both said casing and connector. Y

In witness that I claim the foregoing I have hereunto subscribed my name this 8th day of February, 1928.

CHARLES E. DATI-I. 

